Chapter 5

Jackpot!

Celadon City-

            Lance, Surge, Red, and Blue stood outside the entrance of the Game Corner.  They were just finishing formulating their plan.           

            “I think we need to have our Pokémon out now, just to be ready,” Lance said.  “We don’t want any suprises!” He released Dragonite and the golden Dragon looked ready for business. 

            Surge released a strange, metallic Pokémon.  Well, it looked like three of the small magnetic Pokémon Magnemite all joined together: its evolved form, Magneton.  Red released Wartortle and Blue released her trusty Nidorina, her partner since childhood. 

            “Here’s the plan,” said Lance.  “Surge, you go round up as many Rockets as you can.  Red, Blue, you guys go find and save any stolen Pokémon.  We’ll meet up later and try to shut down the Scopes.”

            Red nodded.  “Where are you going?”

            Lance turned towards the doors of the casino.  “I’m gonna find out who’s the main man in charge of this place.”

            The four trainers walked in the doors.  It was a rather boring looking Casino.  Empty of almost all people, save the old man here and there playing the slots. It seemed to Red as if it was brand new, no one seemed to know about this place yet. 

            “Well it’s a good unnoticeable spot for a hideout,” said Blue.  Nidorina’s ears were perked, listening for any sign of danger.  Eventually they found their way to the chip-for-prize exchange.  The man’s behind the counter eyes grew wide with fear.

            “Do you know why we’re here?” questioned Lance.  Dragonite breathed smoke from its nostrils. 

            “Ye-yes sir,” said the prize-man.  He pushed a button on the desk, and almost magically, a hole opened behind the counter, with stairs leading down into the foundations of the building.  “Please let me go! I don’t like working for Team Rocket anyways! They don’t pay enough.”

            Lance let him go, the four trainers descended the stairs and ended up in a hall that branched into three directions.  “I guess this is where we split up,” he said.  “Red and Blue, stick together! Lorelei will be here shortly!”  He took off down the left hall.  Surge casually started walking down the right, Magneton floating behind him.  Red and Blue decided to take the middle hall. 

            Red and Blue checked every room they came across, empty except for some boxes.  Eventually, they went into a room and found some Pokeballs sitting on the table.  Not long after, Wartortle and Nidorina let out cries as two Rockets had appeared in the doorway.

            “Here they are! They’ve found some product!”  The Rockets each released Pokémon of their own.  One was a furry brown rat, Ratticate, and Red checked his Pokedex to find it was the evolved form of the common Rattata.  The other Pokémon Blue recognized as Koffing from Mt. Moon, the floating purple orb that spewed toxic fumes from its many orifices.  

            It wasn’t long before an alarm sounded and Red lights began flashing in the Rocket hideout.  They must have found Lance or Surge, thought Red.  However, the two young trainers had their own problems to worry about, and these Rockets weren’t pushovers.  Wartortle and Ratticate wrestled around on the ground, knocking each other into the walls.  Koffing dodged around Nidorina’s jumps with stunning agility. 

            Nidorina and Wartortle locked eyes and rapidly shifted focus to each other’s enemy.  Wartortle shot a Water Gun and knocked Koffing out of the air while Nidorina landed a powerful kick on Ratticate.  It was the Rockets who were now in trouble, yelling down the hall for backup.  Red and Blue chased after them, hoping to find more stolen Pokémon.

            However, it was a trap, as soon as they went down another flight of stairs, as many as 10 Rockets awaited them.  Each one had their own Pokémon ready to fight: five more Ratticates, a couple Koffing, a Zubat, and a Grimer. 

            Red and Blue put their face in their hands in disappointment, how could they be tricked so easily.  Wartortle wasn’t discouraged so easily though.  The fuzzy-eared turtle grabbed Red’s Pokeballs and released the rest of the Pokémon. 

            Blue laughed.  “Good idea,” she said, “these guys don’t play by the rules so why should we?” she unleashed the rest of her Pokémon as well: the mighty Bulbasaur, ready to charge; tiny Poliwag, scared but determined to protect its trainer; and Butterfree, fluttering in the air with grace in the face of danger.

            Red’s Pokémon, were angry.  Wartortle barred its teeth, Pidgeotto spread its wings trying to appear bigger, and Pikachu sparked its cheeks.  Machop, however, didn’t seem to care about good and evil, and bowed respectfully to its enemies before getting into his ready stance.       

            The battle that raged through the halls was intense. However, all the commotion only attracted more Rockets to the seen, and the odds were stacked even further against Blue and Red.  The Rocket’s Pokémon surrounded Red and Blue’s and all hope seemed lost.  The two young trainer’s Pokémon were outnumbered and Blue’s little Poliwag could hardly stand all the fighting.  The chances of victory, or at the least escape, were slim to none.  Then, when all hope seemed lost and the Rockets closed in around them, something amazing happened.

            Blue’s Bulbasaur wouldn’t let its master or its friends be taken.  It let out a fierce cry, and started glowing a bright light.  The bulb on its back split and out of it grew another pink bulb among the large leaves that were once the original plant.  In addition, it tripled in size.  Bulbasaur had evolved, and in Blue’s Pokémon list on her Pokedex read “Ivysaur.”  Almost before Blue or Red (or for that matter, the Rockets) could gather their senses about what just happened, Ivysaur shot out razor sharp leaves from the enclosed flower on its back, it was its new special, technique: Razor Leaf.

            The Razor Leaf attack acted like a machine gun, keeping the Rockets at a distance while Red and Blue recalled their Pokémon and made a dash down the nearest hall, they ran deeper and deeper into the depths of the Rocket Hideout.  Finally, their pursuers were out of sight and they hid in the farthest room.  Blue recalled Ivysaur and Red tried to catch his breath when they were greeted by a single man’s voice.

            “Well, well, well,” said the Rocket Boss.  “This is certainly no place for you children to be playing.”

Team Rocket Hideout: Lieutenant Surge-

            Being a former Rocket himself, Surge and Magneton knew exactly where to go.  Along the way he met many Rockets, and while they tried to stop him, Magneton paralyzed them with an electric attack that left them immobile. 

            Another flight of stairs he descended.  He wasn’t going to see his old Boss, no Surge’s Pokémon even as a Gym Leader stood no chance against his Boss’s Pokémon.  Not to mention he knew there was a personal vendetta against him within criminal organization from which he defected.  He went down an elevator and finally arrived in the Rocket Situation room.

            He sat down at the central command and opened up the feed to Lavender Town.  Agatha was again meditating on top of the Pokémon Tower, captive.  Desmond soon appeared in the picture, and was furious to see Surge on the other end.

            “You!” said Desmond.  “By now the Boss is long gone! And soon, I will be in control of your precious Vermillion City, and then we’ll crush you! We’re just finishing our leave of this tall graveyard.”

            Surge laughed.  “You always were dull, Desmond.  I didn’t come to see your Boss.  I came to stick it to the rest of you.” He smiled and pointed to his sunglasses.  “Let’s see how you like those ghosts that haunt Pokémon Tower when your little sunglasses turn off.”

            Desmond laughed back at the Gym Leader.  “You were never involved in this plan! It would take hours for someone to break through our security codes and shut down the processor! By then, of course, we and our captive will safely be back in Saffron with Sabrina.”

            Surge didn’t lose his composure.  “You don’t understand do you?  I’m a military man.  I like things that go boom!”  He released a large, sphere Pokémon, divided in half, white on top, and red on bottom.  It was almost like a large Pokeball.  “You remember Electrode, don’t you, Desmond?”

            Agatha was seen on the screen awaking from her trance and smiling seemingly through the video screen towards Surge, as if to say “thank you.”

            “Surge, you surely have gone bonkers,” said Desmond.  “How do you plan on battling me from all the way in…uh oh.”  Desmond shouted to his Rocket underlings off screen.  “Mission abort! MISSION ABORT!”

            “That’s right, you silly boy,” said Surge.  “I don’t need to hack into your little system, all I have to do is blow it up!  Adios!”  He switched the feed to the outside security cameras, and was intrigued of what he saw.

            The whole city was enveloped in a lightning storm of insane proportions. No matter, Magneton can create a polarized barrier to repel the lightning from striking me. Magneton floated towards another screen, alerting its master.  Now Surge was scared.

            In a security camera feed showed a hall from inside the hideout, and walking down the hall was the same terror that appeared to Surge in Vermillion City.  The very being that had scared Lieutenant Surge, powerful Gym Leader, out of Team Rocket.  The Phantom had come to the party.

            Surge turned to Electrode, “You know what to do.” The ball Pokémon smiled its big smile and rolled as if to nod. Electrode began sparking uncontrollably.  Surge ran to the elevator, and as soon as he was outside the hideout safely under Magneton’s lighting-repelling barrier he heard the muffled, underground boom of Electrode’s Self-destruct attack. 

            Surge ran around the corner, and down about a block as Magneton’s barrier fizzled the lightning’s random strikes.  A huge hole had opened in the ground where the Rocket’s Situation Room used to hide beneath the streets.  He recalled the fainted Electrode that lay in the rubble into its Pokeball.

            He looked towards the highest point of the city, the great Celadon City Hotel, fifty stories high.  On top of it looked like a magnificent bird roosting, but Surge figured it was just a trick from the wind and lightning flashes.

            “Let’s go, Magneton,” said Surge.  “Back to Vermillion, I don’t want to be near that thing, that Phantom again.”

Team Rocket Hideout: Lance-

            Every single room Lance and Dragonite found was filled with nothing but slot machine equipment, and floor plans for the casino above. 

            Darn it! He said.  I’ve just been going in circles this whole time. I better try and find those kids and make sure they’re alright. Every now and then, Lance would run into some Rocket Goons, but Dragonite would make quick and silent work of them and their Pokémon before Lance put them in zip ties.         

            They ran down another hall back the way they came when Trainer and Pokémon were knocked off their feet by an earth shattering BOOM and a shockwave. All electricity went out in the building.  Surge’s Electrode had just destroyed the Situation Room, to Lance’s ignorance.  That better not be those kids getting hurt!  He thought. 

He finally found another flight of stairs when he received a phone call on his video phone.  It was Lorelei.

            “Lance! Lance, can you hear me?” she said.  The audio was filled with static, and the video feed kept cutting in and out.

            “Yes Lorelei? I’ve been here for almost an hour now. Where are you?” He was expecting her to join the raid of the Rocket Base, but she was still seen on the video to be in a Pokémon Center with Erika.

            “There’s a terrible electric storm outside, I’ve been trying to get through to you! I was going to join you but right before the storm started, I was sidetracked!” The video signal was fading fast, but Lance struggled to make out a few words “Flew in…lightning…entire city...Phantom!”  The signal turned to static. 

            Well, maybe I get to finally meet the Phantom. He thought.  Lance was retracing his steps in the dark.  Suddenly, Dragonite began growling at something unseen in the shadows, and Lance heard a voice answer him in his mind.

            Request granted, it said.  A single light panel came on in the ceiling, illuminating the figure of man robed in grey, with long, black leather gloves and boots covering his hands and feet.  He wore a black bandana over his face that covered everything under the hood except his eyes, which seemed to shine in the dark.  Your concern for Team Rocket is certainly justified, but I can’t have you meddle with MY plans. The Phantom raised its hand at the Champion and his Dragon, and before Dragonite could launch an attack, Lance and his Pokémon found themselves in the Pokémon Center, next to Lorelei and Erika.

            “Lance!” said Lorelei.  “How did you get here? There was a bright flash of light and suddenly you just appeared out of thin air!”

            Lance looked out the door, lightning seemed to strike every second, falling like rain on the street outside. 

            “It’s like that all over the city,” said Erika.  The Gym Leader had a solemn, scared look in her face.  “I’ve never seen a storm like this.”

            Lorelei stepped forward.  “Some citizens say they saw a giant bird fly in, and then the lightning started.”  Lance looked at some terrified Trainers also seeking shelter in the Pokémon Center and nodded.

            “I don’t know about a bird,” said Lance, he banged his fist on a table in the lobby of the Center.  “But the Phantom’s here! He’s in the Rocket Base.  Those kids are in danger, not to mention Surge…”

            “All we can do is ride out the storm,” said Lorelei.  “And pray for the best. Those kids are resourceful, and Electricity is Surge’s specialty remember? It’ll be alright.” She put her arms around her boyfriend.